First ride on the MAX Green LineTriMet's fifth light rail line - the MAX Green Line - is nearing its September 12 opening. On Tuesday, more than 350 people invite dby TriMet crammed onto a Type 4 light-rail train for a sneak preview of what the 8.3-mile ride from downtown Portland to Clackamas Town Center will look and feel like. Read more at the Hard Drive commuting blog: oregonlive.com/harddrive

Of course, there were 10 minutes or so Tuesday morning when the more than 350 elected officials and invited guests crammed aboard a shiny new light rail train wondered if they would even get out of the first station in downtown Portland.

Something was wrong with a switch on the track at the PSU Urban Plaza Center/SW 5th & Mill Station. First, a TriMet maintenance technician went after the problem with a broom, attempting to sweep leaves from the switch before a fruitless attempt to move the switch manually with the wood handle.

No go.

The switch "only threw over part way because there was debris from the street that got in the switch," said Denis Van Dyke, a TriMet operations manager.

A second maintenance worker eventually showed up with a metal bar that threw the switch, allowing the train to roll north on the Portland Mall. Past Union Station and over the Steel Bridge, the train eventually took a tunnel under Interstate 205 and hugged the freeway as it made stops at Main Street, Lents/SE Foster and a number of other never-used stations leading to the Clackamas Town Center.

Wow. More than 350 muckety-mucks jockeying for position on a light-rail train rolling into Clackamas County. Ten years ago, that would have been seen as a train destined for a sheer cliff in the political wilderness.